Those are my favorite lines from a Jason Mraz song called You and I Both.

It sums up perfectly how I feel about words and writing – so much so that the lyrics are part of my Twitter profile.

It’s hard for me to imagine a day without blogging or social media.

A day without words.

A day without being able to say what I want to say, when I want to say it. Unencumbered. Freedom of expression.

Words make me feel alive.

And yet in many places, words mean danger. Imprisonment. Death.

In many places, people live their days without being able to speak the words they want to because they are afraid of what might happen.

Every day is a day without words.

The thought of that breaks my heart: that there are people all over the world who want to shout things from a rooftop, or peacefully protest, or rejoice. And they can’t.

People like Nabeel Rajab, a Bahraini human rights activist who is serving time for posting anti-government comments on Twitter and participating in peaceful gatherings considered to be illegal by the Bahraini government. He is in prison for tweeting his words.

Or Marcos Máiquel Lima Cruz, who was jailed in Cuba because he was dancing to a hip-hop song that had lyrics criticized the lack of freedom of expression there. He is in prison for dancing to words of protest.

I ask you: do you treasure your words? Do you treasure them enough to take action so that others’ words might be as free as yours are?

What if we could stand together and say that a day without words is unacceptable? That it won’t be tolerated? That words are ours to own, and think, and tweet, and sing, and write, and speak. Unencumbered.

If the value of our words – whether to protest, sing, mourn or rejoice – is important to you, you CAN take action.

Put your words behind the #NoMas campaign.

[create] a No Mas badge.

You can say No Mas to anything. ANY cause that is important to you, not just freedom of expression. You can create your own No Mas badge that tells your community what you say no to.

[join] a live Twitter chat

Every Monday in February at 11am PST, encourage your community to join @TakePart for a live Twitter chat with celebrities, experts and activists as they explore the issue of free speech. Follow @TakePart and use #NoMas to ask your questions.

My son is involved in a children’s theatre troupe that is currently touring a self written show called “Freedom Bound” that is all about this very subject. The freedom we take for granted and that not “rocking the boat” results in the death of hope. It tackles issues all over the world from Egypt, Iraq, etc. It’s so awesome to see these kids learning about the importance of this precious right and how important it is to be a voice for those who don’t get to have one. Love this post and thanks for sharing!